The College AU
by sailboatsupernova
Summary: A Star Wars college AU that I've been sitting on for awhile but haven't done anything with. More characters included that what's listed on the package.
1. How It Began

star wars college au where instead of asking him out like a normal person thrawn keeps trying to convince pellaeon to marry him so they can get more financial aid


	2. How It Began pt II

luke is a wide-eyed freshman who has never been outside of his small town until now. is in general studies until he can figure out what he wants, but feels bad about it because his aunt and uncle are paying for it and he doesn't want to burden them. is 100% here and ready to learn, but is also easily distracted.

leia is the political science major who shows up to all of the human rights rallies– usually with a megaphone. is very active in class and gets high marks. she's also active in clubs, especially the debate team. she's a promising leader and student; her professors love her but wish she would take some time for herself occasionally too.

han & chewbacca don't even go here, they go to the technical school down the street but loiter around anyway because they can. do pretty good in their classes, but would do better if they showed up more. they're the two you want to go to when you want to buy your books for dirt cheap– as long as you don't mind the implication of the discount.

thrawn is the weird humanities/art history double major that gets oddly philosophical for no reason. people still come to him for advice despite this. is never seen doing work but his stuff is always turned in on time and he gets top marks in everything. constantly flirting with pellaeon.

pellaeon is majored in landscaping architecture and is thrawn's long suffering roommate. enjoys his major and is good at it; already has a job lined up for when he graduates. cannot figure out if thrawn is hitting on him because everything he says has a double meaning and it's driving him crazy.

mara takes so many odd classes no one knows what she's majored in. one semester she's taking photography with some communication classes sprinkled in there– the next she's sitting in aerospace and engineering lectures. makes high marks in everything she takes. when asked about it she changes the subject in such a way that you don't realize it's happened until the conversation is over.


	3. How It Began pt III

okay so like winter break is coming up on their junior year and pellaeon is excited about going home and is talking to thrawn about it and asks him what his christmas plans are. thrawn tells him that he doesn't really have any, he's never really celebrated christmas and pellaeon is just so taken aback by this. then he just invites thrawn over to his house for the break because his parents won't mind and he'd love to be the first person thrawn experienced christmas with. and thrawn agrees and pellaeon is just so excited about it that thrawn doesn't have the heart to tell him that he's Jewish.


	4. How It Began pt IV

when luke meets mara for the first time it's mostly just stilted conversation and awkward one-sided sorta-kinda flirting. mara keeps trying to gently clue him in that she's not interested but he's not quite getting the hint; eventually it gets to the point where when luke asks her if she'd like to meet up after class she's just like "actually i was going to meet my girlfriend later" and luke's like "oh… you mean like an actual girlfriend or just a girl that is a friend?" and mara doesn't even reply she juststares at him until he gets uncomfortable enough to change the subject. it takes a while but they become good pals… i mean eventually.

leia meets han early in her sophomore year during a picket line. she had been planning this protest for weeks now but when she and the strikers she's helping get there there's just… two guys…sitting in front of the store… in lawn chairs. and she questions them because why? and han explains that they're waiting for the store to open to buy a part and then asks why are you guys here? leia explains the wage problems and the strike and han nods along but when an employee from inside the store starts to open he tries to go past her and she blocks him. and he's like "can you let me though?" and she's like "? no ? this is a picket line, that's the point of it?" han's just like "okay look i'll protest with you," and he turns towards the building before pointing at it and shouting "fuck you establishment!" and then turning back to leia and being like "now can i go in?" they argue about it for a solid two hours. chewbacca watches on in interest. winter is standing behind leia with her sign just trying not to smile in amusement.

thrawn and pellaeon meet on moving day freshman year. it's very lackluster and they get through the usual questions before setting in: what's your name, what's your major, which bed do you want? they speak occasionally but it's never very substantial. they're almost a week into this until pellaeon gets tired of it and one evening when they're in their room he asks thrawn "so what's so interesting about art history?" and thrawn just stops what he's doing and slowly turns towards pellaeon before just laying into it. and pellaeon didn't exactly expect a half hour long explanation but he manages to at least stay alert during it because he can tell the other is enthusiastic but this has to be the most low-key excitement he has ever seen and it is fascinating.


	5. That's Not What You Said

"Gilad, when are you going to bring a nice Christian girl home?"

"Actually I was hoping to bring home a nice Jewish boy."

"What?"

"What?"


	6. Interactive Simulation

Because of this site's capabilities (or the lack of them, rather...) this chapter and the next upcoming chapters are vastly different than how they appear originally on AO3. So instead of having actual links to the corresponding chapters, it'll just be posted as a new chapter in the order of the names and you can select you're choice from the chapter selection. For example, chapter 8 would be Luke, chapter 9 would be Leia, 10 Han, and so on.

You have been going to the University for almost two years now. You can't say it has been easy, but you've gotten by well enough. You have friends, good professors, and you even managed to get a boyfriend! Things had been going pretty good for awhile, but now you think something is up. Your boyfriend has been acting oddly distant here lately, even a little frigid at times. Your friends tell you not to worry about it, that it's just college causing a strain on him and that, in turn, is causing a strain on the relationship. It's a reasonable explanation, but something in your gut is telling you that it's not just difficult classes making your boyfriend act sketchy around you. Your friends are good at heart but you think they care too much about protecting your feelings to give you an unbiased opinion. An outsider would be the best person to go to- getting a third party involved might give you an answer you can trust. Who to go to is the only question you have to answer now. After giving it enough thought, you make your decision...

You choose...

Luke Skywalker

Leia Organa

Han Solo

Chewbacca

Thrawn

Gilad Pellaeon

Mara Jade

?


	7. Interactive Simulation: Luke

The first name that pops into your mind seems like the obvious choice. You've known Luke for awhile now and while you're not exactly friends with him the both of you get along fairly well. He seems like he has a good heart, or at least willingness to listen to others. He isn't that hard to find either, you've seen him napping under one of the trees in the courtyard on multiple occasions.

And the courtyard is exactly where you find him, except instead of napping he has his nose shoved off in a book. You call his name with a wave as you approach, and he looks up with a grin. For a moment you're worried you might be disturbing him, but before you can say anything he's tossing the book aside (a history textbook, if the title is anything to go by) in a way that says he's happy to have the distraction.

You plop down on the grass next to him, and he asks you what's up. Apparently something showed on your face- you haven't even said anything about a problem and here he is bringing it up. Something about unloading your problems onto a virtual strangers seems... weird. Socially unacceptable, at least. You made it this far though, may as well continue.

Deciding to start off a little slow, you first tell Luke that you're looking for advice. Nothing too heavy! Just... an outsider's opinion on a personal problem you've been having. At the term "personal problem" his expression of interest shifts into one of worry, but you assure him that, really, it's nothing too heavy. Luke nods, giving you an encouraging smile and with a sigh you start to tell him about your boyfriend.

As you speak Luke listens. He does tend to interject with comments of his own, little remarks or opinions about whatever it is you've just said. Sometimes these comments derail the conversation a bit, but one of you is always able to nudge it back on course. Something about these interruptions make it easier to talk to him- they almost make him seem more human. You're not talking to a professional, you're talking to another young adult, someone who will be able to level with you. You feel as though you are talking with someone, rather than at them.

A part of you knows that this doesn't mean you'll get the best advice, but at this point you're just happy you're getting to vent a bit- which is what this request for advice has turned into.

But Luke listens actively throughout the whole of it, and when you finally end with a sigh you can't help but feel relieved. Even if Luke can't provide the advice you're looking for, he at least provided an ear.

As you wait in silence for a reply Luke hums and looks thoughtful. You take a moment to glance at your phone for the time, just to see how long the two of you have been talking, and wince a little when you see that about twenty minutes have gone by. Ah well. It didn't look like Luke was wanting to read his textbook anyway.

Suddenly he looks over at you and you pull your attention back to Luke as he begins to tell you what he thinks. He starts out with the obvious: you still care about your boyfriend. If you didn't you wouldn't exactly be asking for advice on what to do now would you? You nod along and he continues. It's pretty basic stuff really, though you suppose asking anything more from an acquaintance might be a bit much. Eventually though, he brings up the lack of communication, and asks if you have tried bringing up your feelings to your boyfriend.

You haven't, and you're honest about that. It's not easy to prepare pouring your heart out to someone who seems to barely even be there for you. Luke concedes you this, but is otherwise silent. When he speaks up again, it is to say that communicating with your boyfriend would be a good place to start, but he tells you to listen to what your heart is telling you to do. You can't go wrong if you listen to your heart- and, well, your instincts too.

With a chuckle, you nod in agreement. The answers seem so simple and you can't help but feel as though they are obvious. Not that you can judge- it's you that hasn't even attempted to talk to your boyfriend about his troubling behavior. You thank Luke for his time with a smile, and he grins in return. You get the feeling that he's happy trying to help others. You can appreciate that, you suppose.

You wave at him as you leave, and you see him return the gesture before turning back to his textbook with a frown. You can't help but chuckle to yourself and you decide to take his advice. You pull out your phone and start typing out a message to your boyfriend, asking if you can meet up later.

You can listen to your heart, but first you have to speak your mind.


End file.
